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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Pakistan Reinstates Death Penalty For Terrorists

I'm a little confused over Pakistan's stance on the death penalty after reading an article on Al Arabiya.

Pakistan announced Wednesday it will end its moratorium on the death penalty in terror-related cases, the prime minister’s office said a day after Taliban militants killed 141 students and school staff in the country's bloodiest ever terror attack.

“The prime minister has approved abolishment of moratorium on the execution of death penalty in terrorism-related cases,” an official from Sharif’s office said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Hanging remains on the Pakistani statute book and judges continue to pass the death sentence, but a de facto moratorium on civilian executions has been in place since 2008.

So, people who have been sentenced to death for blasphemy and adultery won't actually be executed? Just rot away in prison, or executed by radical Islamist vigilantes?

Apparently, the moratorium was also applicable to terrorists, until now. It took the revenge massacre of a bunch of innocent kids by the Pakistani Taliban to change that.

And it seems the Afghan Taliban are taking the moral high ground regarding the school massacre by their Pakistani brethren Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has always condemned the killing of children and innocent people at every juncture," the Afghan Taliban, which often target civilians, said in a statement released late Tuesday, according to Agence France-Presse.

"The intentional killing of innocent people, women and children goes against the principles of Islam and every Islamic government and movement must adhere to this fundamental essence,” the statement read.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the official name of the Taliban) expresses its condolences over the incident and mourns with the families of killed children," it added.

Muslims condemn the killing of school kids and innocent people, any yet it happens all the time.